Parramatta Eels five-eighth Dylan Brown will be out for between 4-8 weeks due to a syndesmosis injury. It's a cruel blow for one of Parramatta's toughest and most competitive players. Backup half Jai Field has been selected to fill the breach and will partner Mitchell Moses for the first time in his career.
Earlier this year Moses himself missed three games due to a calf injury which saw Field wear the number seven. Field had some early jitters and was solid in his outings but nowhere near the level that Moses was playing at the start of the season.
There was a clear lack of experience during that period with Field's kicking game being particularly poor and a lot of pressure being put on Brown.
But with Brown out and Moses taking on almost all of the playmaking duties, how will that look for Parramatta's spluttering attack?
This situation may open up an opportunity for Moses to be playing both sides of the ruck more regularly, which in turn could allow fullback Clint Gutherson to play through the middle a lot more than he has recently.
Field is a natural ball runner and explosive off the mark, he's the type of player you like on an edge if he can get one-on-one with a forward and skip to his outside.
The Eels have no doubt been far too structured recently with opposition defences easily sliding in defence to shut down our attacking raids.
However, a more unpredictable attacking style with Moses popping up on both sides of the field could help to open up the attack.
It's highly unlikely Field would be left to marshal an entire side of the ground on his own and Moses would look to be more dominant when it comes to playmaking.
It's a style that often suits Moses and is similar to the approach Brad Fittler went with when coaching him for Lebanon. In those matches Robbie Farah partnered him in the halves, although Farah is not a half, doesn't have a threatening running game and was used more as an experienced head rather than a genuine playmaker.
The Eels need to get back to playing a lot more direct through the middle and much of that comes down to Moses being closer to the ruck and having forwards such as Junior Paulo and Nathan Brown pass before the line, using their size and skill to attract defenders before contact which in turn opens up the edges.
Looking at Clint Gutherson's roll in this and while his pass selection has become fantastic, he only has an opportunity to put a player into a gap if there is space to do so. At the moment he's getting none of that. And while his dummy half runs usually pick up strong metres, he is best utilised as a support player through the middle taking a tip on from a forward or attacking from an offload.
If Moses is swinging to both sides of the ruck then it could free up Gutherson to do more work through the middle of the field to try and open the game up.
Field, whilst he lacks Brown's size and strength is nimble and reportedly the fastest player at the club. Utilising his speed by getting him one-on-one opportunities is the way to bring him into the game.
In defence it's going to be a little trickier, although Field is on the side with Jennings and Lane who are generally good defenders.
The team really needs to be on the same page here, they need to get off the line early to allow Field to win the contact and slide if necessary. There should be no reason for Sivo to be flying in off his wing.
If the defensive line is passive, or worse, has players coming up and in, leaving massive gaps, the Warriors halves are good enough to exploit it, especially with RTS sniffing around on the edges.
These next few weeks present an opportunity for the Eels to rejig their attacking systems and present a renewed threat for the finals.
Replies
Run Jai, RUN!!!!
Yep. Warriors are everyone's second favourite team this year. Payten deserves his coaching role at the Cowboys because he has really turned their season around.
I also agree that this may help Moses attacking game. As the season has developed, it is obvious eels wanted to Dylan Brown to control the team more. However, with Brown out, Moses has to take full ownership of this team and win us the game. I believe this will actually help him and if he succesfully controls the team, Gutho will be effective and Field can play his natural running game which will spark our attack.
I think it was unfair to judge Field's attacking and playmaking skills based on this years performance. Brown and Field were both very young and didn't have any epxerience leading any team. I personally believe it was an amazing job by both of them to win 3 out of the 4 games without Moses.
I reckon they will go really well together.
I believe that we will see Gutho and Field swap positions when we are in offence. This allows Gutho to play his normal position in the line and Field to show his strength out the back.
I expect that we will really tighten up our attack. That means using the middle and the corridor one out to repeatedly run the ball using simple one out plays and the occasional off load. We won't see any fancy backline sweeps until we are in a position to press that advantage near the line.
I think these two will compliment each other
Hopefully the combo might spark Moses to run a bit more, engage the line and use his speed.
One will play 7 and supposedly run our plays, the other will play 6 and do what he can to get points on the board.
Field likes to run and hopefully will be like D Brown and straighten our attack to open up the outside for a few points.
That said in his past games he tends to hang onto the ball like too many of our players, and kill off any advantage he creates.
If Moses doesn't step up then expect a flogging.
Crystal Ball says, Moses to play a lot more football both sides of the field and become a real halfback, Field to have a Field day running off Moses and playing heads upfooty, scoring 3 tries in his next three games. Quick off the mark and will be a handful. Our attack will look better then currently with Dylan but our defense will suffer. Crystal ball says we beat the Warriors by 14.
I think it will be a failure. Moses will miss Brown and from what I have seen of Field he is not fg material or at least not ready for fg.
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